Temples Outside Angkor
 

Nice article in the June 21 Washington Post about temple options beyond the Angkor Wat [free registration may be required]:
Peacefulness Is Still Intact In Cambodia's Remote Ruins

For what it's worth, I've been compiling Angkor era temples with
common name,
country,
nearest settlement,
coordinates,
relevant Panoramio photo,
source.

Up to 78 as of this writing. The photo can be helpful to tell if it's a mound of rocks, though perhaps of historic significance like Ak Yum, or a large site like Wat Phu in Lao or Preah Vihear in Cambodia. I mean Thailand. I mean Cambodia.

At some point, where I haven't, I'll plop them into Google Map Maker, OpenStreetMap, and WikiMapia and include columns on the spreadsheet. At least that's the long term intent.

For now, I've plugged a lot of the ones around Siem Reap into Google Map Maker. If you look at the Angkor Thom area, for instance, you'll probably see some unfamiliar sites.

Also, if you start at the West Baray and then pan north, there are several lesser sites. You can also search on "Prasat" (temple).

I'm sure I'm partially reinventing the wheel or at least recasting work done by some of the sources I'm using, but maybe there's added value in the Panoramio link and the mapping.

....LMAO, thanks ! ^

Great, thanks.

We hired a car and driver to go from Siem Reap to Beng Mealea last summer and it was fantastic (and only ~$50 for the entire day). It was us and about 5-6 Japanese tourists at the site - great sans the crowd. Truly an unbelievable trip

do you happen to still have the driver's contact details in case you can recommend him?

Toured the temple at Koh Ker yesterday after visiting the village school to bring lunch, take Polaroids of the 189 students, and deliver bicycles to the four 6th grade graduates. We also visited the homes of the four graduates. My wife and I were with Lori and Ponheary from the Ponheary Ly Foundation, referenced in this thread.

We (4) were the only ones at the temple, except for a dozen workmen cutting down the trees growing from the stones. They were working on one that must have been 25m high. The Apsara Authority has deemed them a hazard.

Might want to visit sooner rather than later, as it is going to significantly change the appearance. Cleaner. Safer. Less of a reclaimed by the jungles appearance.

This month's National Geographic has the Temples of Angkor in the featured article... with a map that shows that there is life beyond Angkor.

I watched an hour-long show on Angkor on National Geographic channel last night. Same theme as the magazine. Very interesting.

One interesting fact: Using NASA satellite imagery, they were able to determine, based on the discovered canal network, that Angkor was larger than Manhattan.

Is the road out to Beng Melea paved now? It wasn't back in 2004 but was in the process of being so. Some rumours the builders of the paved road wanted to charge USD20 per person to use it.

I'm in Siem Reap right now. Went out to Koh Ker and Beng Melea with Ponheary Ly, also visited Koh Ker school (I'm behind hiyo by about a week). The road to Beng Melea is completely paved and in good shape. There is a "toll" per car but it's only a couple of bucks, and any guide/driver service should include that in the fee. There is an admission charge to Beng Melea of $5 and Koh Ker area of $10. Beng Melea is absolutely worth it. I was there a couple of days ago in the late afternoon and only about 5 of us tourists there. Very spooky now as it's rainy season and pouring off and on. The trip is combinable on a long day trip with other outlying temples such as Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean.

Koh Ker, I have my reservations about. If you are expecting spectacular temples, you will be disappointed. Frankly, I don't think the expense and distance are worth it for non-temple freaks, unless you are going long distance and can visit as an off-shoot. Or, like hiyo and myself, had other non-sightseeing activities in the area. The road to Koh Ker (once you leave Siem Reap province and enter into Preah Vihaar province) is VERY bad now and deteriorating by the day, as we are getting lots of rain now. Seriously reconsider doing this trip in rainy season. If you do so, you need to be in a high-clearance vehicle and even then, expect to get stuck. Or if you are able, ride a motorcycle. (Note to hiyo: my trip--a week after yours--was much worse. On the little side road to the school, we got stuck multiple times and even had to get the local demining camp truck to pull us out! The main road, only driver's skill kept us from getting bogged down several times. Other trucks on the road not so lucky.)

The rest of normal Angkor temples are wonderful, even in the rain. I much prefer this time of year (cooler, greener, more atmospheric), than the winter. And not too many tourists.

For any of the minor temples, do a search in Panoramio, which gives the location and linked photos, to see if it's a looted jumble of stones or something better. (Many of these are in my spreadsheet, mentioned above.)

Rainy season is fine, but expect transportation challenges, as mentioned above, and bugs.

The Koh Ker complex is composed of 19 sites. They're listed in the spreadsheet along with references to associated Panoramio photos.

Banteay Toup, Prasat S'lok, Spean Mema
 

Added a few more sites to the spreadsheet mentioned above, including the very interesting Prasat S'lok, in a cave near Kampot

Sorry I never looked again for a reply. I just hired a driver from the hotel where I was staying. BTW - for the one splurge in Cambodia we stayed a Viroth's. Well worth the added expense of a "real" room.

Cheers -

I just got back from my trip to SE Asia on Saturday. I was in Siem Reap from Sept 10-13. On the last day, we took a trip to see Koh Ker first and then Beng Melea on the way back. As others have said, the road to Koh Ker past Beng Melea is unpaved and really in poor condition. It was extremely bumpy and I can only imagine how muddy it must be when it's been rainy heavily. I actually enjoyed the rough road as it really made me feel like I was going somewhere distant.

Our guide had told me there isn't much to see there but I still wanted to go. The highlight, of course, is the pyramid. After seeing it in person, I'm surprised that you used to be able to climb up top. That ladder/stairs looked really steep and dangerous (well, someone did fall down there and that's why it's now closed.) The rest of the temples in the area looked the same to me as they were mostly rubble. Most of this area had just been cleared of mines in the last two or three years. I believe I stopped a minefield from the road that hadn't been cleared yet.

I was disappointed with Beng Melea at first. They have mostly sanitized the experience. Our guide told us that wooden walkway was added just last year and many of the trees and roots have been cleared. He showed us some of the spots where you had to go before the walkway was constructed. You had to pull yourself up a little opening to then walk over rubble. At another spot, you would have had to climb up a wooden ladder to get to some more rubble. The thing that saved the temple for me was that there was still an area where you could walk over the rubble. I got somewhat of the adventure feeling when we walked on the broken stones.

As for tourists, I remember only seeing two other couples at Koh Ker. Beng Melea was packed with tons of local people as it was a Sunday.